Harry Potter Prequel Headed for the London Stage

The Harry Pottersaga isn't over just yet.Author J.K. Rowling revealed to The Daily Mail Thursday that there is a new prequel play centered on the wizard's early years "as an orphan and outcast" before his arrival at Hogwarts, according to ...

Author J.K. Rowling revealed to The Daily Mail Thursday that there is a new prequel play centered on the wizard's early years "as an orphan and outcast" before his arrival at Hogwarts, according to a statement. The play is set to premiere on London's West End by 2015.

Rowling will collaborate with the yet-to-be-determined playwright and will co-produce the play.

Rowling told the newspaper that although she had been approached about bringing Harry Potter to the stage before, it was producers Sonia Friedman (Book of Mormon) and Colin Callender (Lucky Guy) who convinced her now was the time. It "was the only one that really made sense to me, and which had the sensitivity, intensity and intimacy I thought appropriate for bringing Harry's story to the stage," she said of their vision. "After a year in gestation, it is very exciting to see this project moving onto the next phrase."

The seven-volume Harry Potter series has sold more than 450 million copies. Rowling, who released the crime novel The Cuckoo's Calling under a pen name earlier this year, is also working on a Harry Potter spin-off series with Warner Bros., which produced the original film adaptations.